U.S. Military VIP Transports See Major Changes, Starting At The Top

The Trump administration is looking to accelerate upgrades to presidential aircraft as the U.S. Air Force lays out plans to overhaul much of its broad executive airlift fleet.

President Donald Trump has for months raised concerns about Boeing’s delays to the VC-25B program, the U.S. Air Force effort to build a new Air Force One fleet by modifying two Boeing 747-8is. After the president publicly criticized the company for a lack of progress, reports emerged in early May that Trump is going outside the program to try to obtain a new aircraft even as Boeing looks into speeding up its efforts.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the White House had tapped L3Harris to modify another 747 with communications systems that would enable the president to travel domestically on a newer airframe and augment the existing VC-25A fleet. The 747, with the registration number P4-HBJ, was last registered to Global Jet Isle of Man and was owned by the Qatari government.

• Marine One is quickly modified with SpaceX satcom
• The Air Force hopes to overhaul its VIP fleet

L3Harris declined to comment on the matter. Aviation Week reported in March that the company had been in talks with the Trump Organization to modify the president’s privately owned Boeing 757. The aircraft, colloquially called Trump Force One, had been at the company’s modification facility in Greenville, Texas. At the time, Jason Lambert, president of L3Harris’ intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance division, said the company was discussing potential work from a “commercial perspective.”

L3Harris makes the Air Force Senior Leader Command, Control and Communications System-Airborne, which provides secure and nonsecure voice, data and video connectivity into defense networks.

Trump has appointed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to help manage the VC-25B program and try to accelerate it. Boeing is expected to submit a new schedule to the Air Force to support the fiscal 2026 budget; delivery is now slated for 2029. Trump told reporters in February that the administration “may go and buy a plane” to convert amid VC-25B delays.

In March, Boeing and the Air Force decided to reduce the clearance requirements for workers on the VC-25B to speed the program. Boeing has long had trouble finding enough employees who could obtain the “Yankee White” clearance required to work with the president and the vice president.

Musk’s company has also made its way onto the presidential support helicopter. The Marine Corps quickly deployed onto the Sikorsky VH-92 helicopter SpaceX’s Starshield, the military-focused version of its Starlink proliferated low-Earth-orbit internet system. The move makes Marine One the first helicopter in the world with Starshield, according to Naval Air Systems Command (Navair).

The integration comes as the Marine Corps has struggled with development of the VH-92’s Mission Communications System (MCS), a suite designed to provide line-of-sight, beyond-line-of-sight, nonsecure and secure voice and data communications. Following an extended development process, the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation declared in a 2023 report that the MCS is operationally effective.

Starshield provides “system performance 366.25% above objective with an increase of 18,550% over existing capability,” Navair boasted.

While the VC-25 is the Air Force’s most famous executive airlifter, the service also flies VIPs in 737-based C-40B/Cs and 757-based C-32As. The service plans to recapitalize those with a single platform as it continues to face low availability among current aircraft.

According to a late-2024 presentation obtained by Aviation Week, the Air Force had hoped to buy one C-40D, a Boeing Business Jet 737 MAX 9—the first militarized version of the MAX for the U.S. However, Congress blocked the funding in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill, calling the $330 million request unjustified. The Air Force will likely try again in its upcoming fiscal 2026 request, expected in late May.

The service released another solicitation to industry for smaller VIP transport in April, looking to augment its Gulfstream-based C-37A/B aircraft that ferry senior military leaders. The Air Force says the aircraft need to be recapitalized soon, although Pentagon leadership will decide when.

The solicitation seeks information on how contractors could enter into an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to procure a fleet of modified, small commercial-derivative aircraft. The aircraft could be delivered as “modified commercial airline-type” aircraft either to support or fully replace the C-37s.